The reasons fans are excited at William Saliba's Arsenal return

Now that the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season is over, Arsenal fans can look forward to their first glimpes of William Saliba back in a Gunners shirt. The French youngster has been given permission to train with the Premier League side, though can't play a competitive game for the north London outfit until 2020/21. 

That being said, Arsenal supporters have been excited about the prospect of Saliba returning to Colney since the decision was made to pre-maturely end the 2019/20 French top tier, even if training is strictly monitored and limited due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Last year, Saliba was considered one of the hottest young defensive prospects in France and Arsenal did well to beat off competition from a number of sides to his signature as he penned a five-year deal at the Emirates. 

However, part of the terms of the deal was that Saliba would stay with Saint-Etienne on a season-long loan, which Arsenal were willing to agree to in order for the youngster to develop with regular first team action in one of Europe's top five leagues. That said, things haven't gone quite according to plan for Saliba. 

Arsenal fans will have hoped to keep a close eye on Saliba yet it wasn't until a 1-0 home win over fierce rivals Lyon in October that the teenager made his first league start of the season owing to a hamstring injury. A metatarsal fracture in November kept him out until early February, which hasn't aided the 19-year-old and has restricted him to just 11 league starts this season. 

As such, Saliba has endured a stop-start campaign in a season of inconsistency with Saint-Etienne. Claude Puel succeeded Ghislain Printant at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard helm and while the Frenchman enjoyed a new manager bounce upon his October appointment, it's largely been a season of uncertainty for Les Verts and this hasn't aided Saliba as he seeks to fully realise his potential. 

Yet Saint-Etienne have been a better side when Saliba has featured from the get go, of that there is no doubt. Only Toulouse (58) and Amiens (50) have conceded more goals than Saint-Etienne (45) in Ligue 1 this season and on the face of it, this paints a negative picture of Saliba's season, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Of those 45 goals conceded, only 15 have come in the teenager's 11 starts, while three of their five clean sheets this season have come with Saliba in the XI. 

Exhibiting a fine reading of the game that belies his tender years, Saliba's 1.9 interceptions per 90 is a solid return to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'ball interception'. What this then has allowed is for Saliba to instigate attacks from the back rather than relying on last ditch challenges, which while a temporary reprieve for a defending team, can still allow opponents to exert pressure on the Saint-Etienne goal. Yet when he is forced to maximise the physical side to his game, Saliba does so with ruthless efficiency. Indeed, he is yet to commit a foul from an attempted tackle in Ligue 1 this season and, in total, has done so just five times since the start of 2018/19.  

Rather, Saliba's measured approach to repelling danger means his pass success rate of 88% is the best of all Saint-Etienne players and this controlled style of play has understandably gone down well with the Arsenal fanbase. What's key here is that his pass accuracy is better than any Arsenal defender in the Premier League this season, and in a Saint-Etienne side (48.6%) that has a lower possession average than the Gunners (54.2%) in their respective leagues. 

In a more dominant side, Saliba's ability to reasuringly play the ball out from the back is a trait that will quickly endear him to Arsenal fans, particularly as the Gunners' four WhoScored weaknesses are all defensive focused. The plan had been for Saliba to spend the campaign with Saint-Etienne before being integrated into first team matters ahead of next season, yet the cancellation of the French leagues means the defender will benefit from extra time on the training pitch with his new side, while the Arsenal coaching staff can keep closer tabs on their young centre-back with a view to easing him into regular Premier League game time with a greater understanding of the demands of Mikel Arteta. 

While his playing time has been limited, Saliba has done enough to prove he is ready to take the next step and ply his trade in the Premier League. With lingering doubts over Arsenal's current centre-back options and their reliability in Arteta's first choice XI, despite the obvious improvements following his appointment in December, Saliba has the ability to hold down a first team spot for the north London outfit for a long time yet and became a mainstay in the Gunners backline for years to come.